Streaming is an affront to God
There’s still hip-hop, country, and pop radio, of course, but these are waning formats, as streaming has outgrown radio in terms of listenership, and streaming, rather unlike radio, has a way of collapsing all artists, fan bases, and subcultures into singular platforms. Modern artists furthermore take an expansive view of their own musical forms. P... See more
What Was Childish Gambino?
I came of age in the Napster days, when only fools spent money on anything digital. Early on, we decided that we’d rather pay for the internet with attention instead of money. This seemed like a good idea at the time, and at first, it was!
It was like having a big party sponsored by Mazda, and all that meant was having the Mazda logo on the Solo cu... See more
It was like having a big party sponsored by Mazda, and all that meant was having the Mazda logo on the Solo cu... See more
Adam Mastroianni • The Slop School of Internet Success and other lies about cyberspace
But what’s worse for me as a collector and cultural consumer is ultimately better for the platform: I’ll keep subscribing to Spotify because it’s the only way I’ll have access to my music.
Kyle Chayka • Filterworld
Today almost all creative work is digitized and essentially rented — lowering payouts, devaluing work, and redirecting the lion’s share of rewards to the platforms hosting the work rather than the creators themselves.